What’s new

Contrary to what has been reported in this article, prior authorisation under the directive will not be introduced from 2024, as there are currently no measures in the service choices in health care that would qualify for it. For more information, see the Kela press release. The President of the Republic of Finland has ratified […]

With a Finnish electronic prescription, you can now buy medicines from almost all pharmacies in Spain (sanidad.gob.es, in Spanish). Correspondingly, it is now also possible to buy medicines in Finland using a Spanish electronic prescription. In addition to Spain, Finnish prescriptions are accepted in Estonia, Portugal, Croatia, and Poland. Checklist for purchasing prescription medicines abroad […]

Parliament has approved amendments to the Act on Cross-Border Healthcare. The amendments will affect the reimbursements paid by Kela for medical treatment without prior authorisation in another EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom. Customers can seek treatment abroad with or without prior authorisation. Until the present amendments, Kela has reimbursed costs for […]

In Poland, medicines can now be purchased from almost all pharmacies using a Finnish prescription. Correspondingly, Polish electronic prescriptions can be used to buy medicines in Finland. In addition to Poland, Finnish prescriptions are accepted in Estonia, Portugal and Croatia. Checklist for purchasing prescription medicines abroad with a Finnish electronic prescription Before taking a Finnish […]

The legislative amendment will better safeguard the right to indispensable care and adequate healthcare services under the Constitution and the human rights treaties that are binding on Finland. Under the UN human rights treaties, states have an obligation to safeguard the right to health equally for all persons in their territory. Undocumented adults have the […]

The user survey was conducted in Finnish, Swedish and English. Most of the responses were in Finnish (340 responses). English was the second preferred option (66 responses) and Swedish the third (9 responses). We drew a €50 gift voucher to a grocery shop among the respondents; the winner lives in Porvoo. Users have a positive […]

The amendments to the Act on Cross-Border Health Care will not enter into force on 1 January 2023 as the processing is still under way. Under current legislation, a patient can travel abroad for treatment either independently or with a prior authorisation. If a patient seeks treatment independently, Kela will reimburse the costs of treatment […]

Our Frequently Asked Questions pages provide answers to questions regarding seeking treatment, medicines, the European Health Insurance Card and reimbursement for treatment abroad, for example. The concise and clear answers will direct you to a section on our website where you can find more detailed information on the matter. If you are wondering about a […]

Some cookies used on the EU-healthcare.fi website between 25 April and 30 August 2022 collected visitor data without appropriate consent. The site had about 123,000 visitors during that period. The cookies were used to track, for example, visitors’ navigation on the site and the results of advertising directing to the site. Similar cookies are commonly […]

The national application of the EU Regulation on social security (883/2004) was changed, so that now also student health services for students in higher education falls within the scope of application of the Regulation. Under the EU Regulations governing social security coverage for persons who move between the EU countries, you can only be covered […]